


You Should Do That Again

by Kittenly



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Dual Verse, F/M, First Kiss, Jim the Scout, My awkward babes, These doofs have no right, and love is confusing, especially when your inquisitor is as autistic as Ren, feelings are hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-18
Updated: 2015-03-18
Packaged: 2018-03-18 10:15:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3565907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kittenly/pseuds/Kittenly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Super silly first kiss fic</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Should Do That Again

The winter day was bright and clear in Skyhold; sunshine gleamed on the mountain snow. Cullen wandered up and down the battlements, letting the crisp air clear his head. His bones felt heavy in his skin, but the feeling of his blood being on fire that had plagued him the last week had mostly faded. 

He was startled, not unpleasantly, by a cough behind him.

“Renwyn,” he said, “I…er…pleasant weather we’re having.”

Ren looked at him, then past him to the mountains beyond. 

“I suppose it is,” she said. She met his eyes and Cullen felt his face warm. “Are you feeling better, Cullen?” she asked. 

He flinched internally at that. How many more times would he have to endure the withdrawal, let himself be compromised when people he cared for needed him. 

“Yes,” he said softly. “Yes, you need not worry about me.”

“But you worry about me,” said Ren, sounding slightly confused. 

Cullen didn’t know how to respond to that, so he rubbed at the back of his head. “Well… yes. But you get into terrible danger. Of course I worry about you. I’ve come to consider you a dear friend.” _And even more._

A little smile appeared on Ren’s face. “And you are mine,” she said, firmly. There was an odd expression in her eyes that Cullen couldn’t quite figure out. He was surprised when she beckoned to him. He stared at her with a slight frown. 

“I wanted to talk to you,” Ren said. “Walk with me?”

“Of course,” Cullen said and fell into stride with her. 

He glanced at her, only to look away whenever she turned her eyes towards him. A knot had formed in his stomach and his mind started buzzing. Had she noticed his gestures of affection were more than what he would give to just a friend? Had she noticed that he found reasons to touch her, to brush a hair out of her face or to straighten her robes? That he held her a second too long and a little too close than he should? That he danced, just once at the Winter Palace, with her, out on the balcony. She was a dear friend, and Cullen treasured her friendship and would do anything to preserve it. Including moving on. So he steeled himself to step back with as much grace as he could muster. 

When Ren finally turned to him, she didn’t meet his eyes. She shifted awkwardly from foot to foot and she wrung her hands. Finally, she took a breath and started to speak. 

“I’ve never done anything like this,” she said. “But I think I have to now before anything else happens.

“I know I’m not very good at people, and it took me, probably longer than it should have to figure out what was going on,” she froze and let out a high pitched giggle. “Josephine had to drag me aside and explain it to me before I noticed.”

Finally Ren looked up at Cullen, who had put on his calm face and braced for the impact of her words. 

“Please, Renwyn,” he said. “Just say it, so we can move on.”

Ren’s eyes swept up to his and she turned pink. “Al…alright. Cullen,” she took a breath, “I have fallen in love with you.”

That…wasn’t what he’d been expecting. It took him a moment to find anything to say. 

“Sorry?” he said finally. 

“You’re apologizing?” Ren said, confused. 

“No. I mean. What? I’m not sure I heard right.”

“Oh,” Ren said. She looked down, blush growing more and more visible even under her dark complexion. “I said that I have fallen in love with you? I think?” She ended in more of a question than anything. 

“Uh…” Cullen said eloquently. He began pacing nervously. “You think? That you’re in love. With. Me?” He felt color flooding his face and blood rushing everywhere but his brain, where he needed it most. 

“That’s what Josie told me,” Ren said. 

“Josephine told you that you were…are in love. With me?” Cullen ran his fingers through his hair. He let out a long breath and managed to continue. “You sound…uncertain.”

“I’ve never been in love before,” Ren said. “I don’t know what it’s supposed to be like. But I mentioned to Josie that I like to imagine you touching me, and she said that when you feel like that about someone, that's usually means you're in love. So I thought I should tell you. Was that wrong?”

Cullen stared at her, and tried to get his mouth to make words. “You imagine me touching you?” he said after a long moment. His voice sounded odd to his own ears, so he cleared his throat. 

“Yes,” said Ren. “Among other things.”

“I’m not sure what to say,” said Cullen. He took a step towards Ren, making her look up at him. His mouth was as dry as sand, but he forced the words out anyways. “Except that I care for you. I hadn’t dared to think that you might…” he trailed off, not knowing how to continue. 

Ren’s eyes widened. “You feel the same?”

Cullen took another step so he was just inches away. He reached out his hand and tilted Ren’s chin up. He was closing the distance between then when one of the tower doors slammed and one of his scouts shouted, “Commander Cullen,” over the battlements. 

Both Ren and Cullen opened their eyes wide, startled. Cullen slowly let his hand drop from Ren’s face and he felt irrational fury rise up inside him. 

“I have the reports you said you wanted,” the scout said. He hadn’t looked up from his reports, and thus had not seen Cullen’s jaw and fists clench. 

“What?” Cullen demanded. His voice was low and rough as he stepped away from Ren. He seemed to grow larger as he approached the scout.

“I…I,” the scout said, finally looking up to see Cullen puffed up like an angry lion. His eyes slide past the commander to where Ren leaned against the wall, staring at him with wide eyes. 

"I’ll deliver these to your office,” the scout said before backing away slowly. When he was gone, Cullen let out a long sigh and deflated. He looked back to Ren, who stared at him for a moment and then broke out in loud, snorting laughter. 

Cullen rubbed nervously at the back of his neck and waited for her to settle down. 

“You…got…so…puffy,” she said as she tried to regain her breath. 

“Jim’s always had terrible timing,” Cullen mumbled. He watched her, a smile forming on his mouth despite the embarrassment. “We were having a _moment_.”

“We could still be having a moment?” said Ren. 

Ren squeaked as Cullen returned to her in two long steps, pressed their bodies flush together and kissed her. Her lips were warm and sweet and it was only with great reluctance that Cullen broke the kiss. He gave a nervous chuckle and looked at Ren, feeling his face glowing red. 

“That was, uh, really nice,” he said. He felt all the places they touched burn with an unfamiliar heat. 

“You kissed me,” Ren said, breathless. She giggled once, then looked up at Cullen through her messy fringe. “Do it again.”

Cullen was more than happy to oblige. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I have been informed that we have named the poor scout who interrupts Cullen, Jim. I ship Jim with the elf that wanders through the Dorian scene but that is a story for another time.


End file.
